Carne trémula

Live Flesh (literally Trembling Flesh translated from Spanish), the first adapted screenplay from Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, is the first movie to unite the director with his most famous muse, Penélope Cruz. It’s also the second of four (and counting) collaborations between Cruz and her now husband Javier Bardem (Note: it is the only Almodóvar film where we see Bardem.)

The erotic thriller begins when a young prostitute, Isabella (Cruz) gives birth to Victor at Christmas on a bus. Twenty years later, Victor (Liberato Rabal) shows up at the flat of Elena (Francesca Neri) a junkie who he had recently had bad sex with, wanting more. She’s waiting for her drug dealer, and the two struggle. A gun goes off, which attracts the attention of police officers David (Bardem) and Sancho (José Sancho). They enter the house, where during another struggle, the gun goes off again, this time shooting and paralyzing David.

Six years later, Victor is released from jail for the crime he did not commit. His mother has died and left him some money and a house in the slums. While visiting his mother’s grave, he sees Elena, and he also meets Clara (Angela Molina) the wife of Sancho. Clara later teaches Victor how to be a better lover, which he uses to his advantage to try to woo Elena, who is unnerved that Victor is now working at the orphanage she runs. The sexual intrigue keeps the film going to the end.

Live Flesh is, once again, a far departure from Almodóvar’s films of the 80s, although it shares a lot of elements with previous films Matador, La ley del deseo and ¡Átame!. It is adapted from the novel of the same name by Ruth Rendell, although a lot has been changed from the transition from book to screen. Almodóvar originally thought about making it his first foray into directing a film in English, but he ended up doing it in Spanish. José Sancho won the Goya (Spanish Oscar) for Supporting Actor for his role as Sancho.

The film has an interesting plot and moves faster than his other 90s films, although it starts to drag a bit toward the end. It’s fun to see a young Penélope. It’s not one of his more memorable films, as the only thing I remembered about it was the attractiveness of Liberato Rabal and Javier Bardem playing wheelchair basketball. The images from the film stick out more than the film and plot itself. A lot of the usual bright colours and wacky furniture are gone from the film, and I sorta miss them.

The film is probably the least Almodóvar Almodóvar film out there.

Rating: B

Almodóvar Checklist:

Chicas Almodóvar: Penélope Cruz
Antonio Banderas: No.
Poisoned Gazpacho: No
Madrid: Sí
Galicia: No.
Drugs: Sí
Musical Sequence: No, but a few flamenco songs on the soundtrack. No singing on screen though.
Men Too Gay To Function: No.
Transvestites: No.
Furniture Ikea Could Never Market: Well, you’d never see Victor’s rundown shack in Ikea, that’s for sure. But the kitsch is gone.
Surreal rape scene: No. Caliente consenusal sex scenes instead.
Meta Slow Camera Pan To Show How Much He Really Loves Cinema: Sí
Mirror Scene: No.
Dress from Lady Gaga’s rejected pile: Sadly, no.
Aspect of Spanish Culture Turned On Its Head: Men can be sexual objects too, as Victor has a ton of gratiutious scenes. Handicapped people have feelings too.Catholic Church As Bad Guy: No.
Taxi: It’s all about the buses in this film.
His mother: No.
Reference to earlier film: Similar themes to Matador, La Ley de Deseo and ¡Átame! not done as well as these.
Odd Advertisement: A glimpse of “Hospitales: Estado de urgencia” which could’ve been bigger.